Ducks to begin
Pac-10play
Both the men's and women's
basketball teams encounter
their first Pac-10 competition
of the season Saturday at
Oregon State. Section B
The Flash
Japanese student group
sponsoring cultural event
Traditional Japanese cultural activities
will be demonstrated duringthe Japan
Night 2000 celebration Sunday in the
EMU Ballroom.
Organizers of the event seek to present
Japanese culture to students and even
to help Japanese students learn more
abouttheirown culture.
The famous Japanese lion dance called
the Shishima will be featured. Page4A
Students have option of taking
University courses on-line
Taking education to another level,
many students are learning by taking
classes on-line throught the Universi
ty’s Distance Education program.
Web classes can make it easier for stu
dents away from the University to con
tinue their education. Page 5A
Supreme Court extends stay
on adoption record release
SALEM (AP) —The Oregon Supreme
Court on Thursday extended a stay
blocking access to adoption records
pending appeal of a lower court ruling.
SupremeCourtspokesmanJimNass
said the stay is indefinite. A lawyer for
anonymous birth mothers who chal
lenged a new voter-passed access law
said he filed an appeal Thursday from
the state Court of Appeals ruling.
The state’s top court now will decide
whetherto review the appealscourt
decision.
Rough canyon landing just
one possibility in Mars failure
PASADENA, Calif. (AP)—The Mars Polar
Lander probably touched down in an
area that includes a canyon and crater
named the Big Hole, but there is no evi
dence that they caused the probe’s fail
u re, NASA scientists said Thursday.
Officials discounted reports that the
spacecraft was destroyed when it tum
bled down a steep slope after touching
down Dec. 3. The lander was on a 90
day mission to study the Martian at
mosphereand search for underground
iceneartheplanet’ssouth pole.
Weather
Today Saturday
M0S1LY CLOUDY
RAIN
high 49, low 43
high 50, low 38
■ '1 Oregon Daily ’U "■
Emerald
Friday
January 7,2000
Volume 101, Issue 71
nn t^he w h
www.dailyemerald.com
University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon
An independent newspaper
Drug offenses to halt student aid
Going into
effect July 1, a
new rule could
disqualify some
students from
financial aid,
depending on
the severity of
the drug crime
By Jessica Blanchard
Oregon Daily Emerald
A recent rule enacted by the U.S.
Department of Education could dis
qualify students with prior drug
convictions from receiving federal
financial aid for the upcoming
school year.
The new rule, which has already
met opposition from some Univer
sity students, will go into effect July
1. The bill has met controversy na
tionwide since Congress passed it
last year as part of a 1998 bill that
amended the Higher Education Act
of 1965.
Students applying for federal aid
will use a worksheet to answer
whether they have ever been con
victed of an illegal drug offense. El
igibility will be based on the num
ber and severity of the drug
offenses.
Some have argued that people
convicted of possession or sale of
illegal drugs should not be reward
ed with federal financial aid mon
ey. Others said it was unfair to pun
ish offenders twice, first with jail
time or fines for their conviction,
and then again by denying them
aid when they tried to better their
lives through education.
University students had mixed
reactions to the bill. Some, like
sophomore general studies major
Emily Hake, said they could see
Turn to Financial aid, page 5A
Voice of the students
Scott Barnett Emerald
ASUO President
Wylie Chen (left)
participated in a
meeting with Gov.
Kitzhaber to discuss
an initiative that
they said could
drastically cut the
State’s higher edu
cation budget.
Kitzhaber to allot money to child care
The governor
answered
questions
regarding an
initiative that
may cut higher
education
funding
By felicity Ayies
Oregon Daily Emerald
CORVALLIS — Gov. Kitzhaber
took a step toward allocating money
to assist student parents on Thurs
day by agreeing to include the fed
erally funded Student Block Grant
for child care in next year’s state
budget. In turn, the Oregon Student
Association will be able to devote
more time to encouraging college
students to register and vote.
The OSA used Thursday’s meet
ing with Kitzhaber and Secretary of
State Bill Bradbury at Oregon State
University as an opportunity to ask
questions and update the governor
on the Student Vote 2000 program
and the association’s child care fund
ing efforts as well as address a new
tax initiative proposed by Oregon
Taxpayers United leader Bill Size
more. According to me usa, me ini
tiative could mean large cuts in the
state’s higher education budget.
ASUO President Wylie Chen pre
sented the progress of Student Vote
2000, a state-wide campaign to get
students to not just register, but to
vote. Both Kitzhaber and Bradbury
agreed that voting rates among peo
ple aged 18 to 34 are too low.
Turn to Kitzhaber, page 6A
ASUO seeking sign language recognition
Students
at some
universities can
count American
Sign Language
classes toward
their foreign
language
requirements;
some students
wish for the.
same at this
university
By Edward Yuen
Oregon Daily Emerald
Students may soon be
able to fulfill the Universi
ty’s language requirement
without saying a word at
all.
Later this term, the
ASUO will present a pro
posal to the University Sen
ate to include American
Sign Language as an option
to fulfill the foreign lan
guage requirement, ASUO
President Wylie Chen said.
The proposal was created
by Sarah Cohen, a sopho
more journalism major, and
one of about 80 students in
the beginning and interme
diate- level sign language
classes this term.
Cohen said she wanted to
take American Sign Lan
guage for her foreign lan
guage requirement, but a
counselor from the Office of
Academic Advising and
Student Affairs told her the
University does not accept
sign language for that pur
pose.
Theresa Quinn, an aca
demic advisor from the Of
fice of Academic Advising
and Student Affairs, said a
language must have a cul
tural history and be associ
ated with written literature
to be recognized by the Uni
versity.
The University currently
accepts most Asian, Euro
pean and Hebrew languages
as foreign languages.
Turn to Language, page 6A
Azle Malmao-Alvarez tmeralc
Freshman Katie Dutton practices her ABC’s in sign language
during her language class. Dutton is focusing her studies in
pre-nursing.